1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to child restraint seats, and more particularly pertains to a child restraint seat for use with conventional bench type vehicle seats. The use of special child restraint seats in automobiles is required by state and federal ordinances. The child restraints seats now on the market are bulky and difficult to transport. If it is desired to provide additional seating room for adults, these conventional child restraint seats must be removed from the vehicle. This is an inconvenient and time consuming procedure. In order to overcome these problems, the present invention provides a child restraint seat which pivots to a closed position in which it is unobtrusively stored in a recess in the seat back of a conventional bench type vehicle seat.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various types of child restraint seats are known in the prior art. A typical example of such a child restraint seat is to be found in U.S. Pat. No. 3,265,438, which issued to E. Regan et al on Aug. 9, 1966. This patent discloses a portable child restraint seat constructed from a plurality of inflatable cells which may be connected together by snap fasteners. In use, the child restaint seat is inflated, the child then sits in the seat and secures the restraint seat to a conventional bench type vehicle seat through the use of a conventional automobile safety belt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,291,915, which issued to J. Cox on Sept. 29, 1981, discloses a combined suitcase and safety seat for use on a conventional bench type vehicle seat. Loop straps are provided for the securement of the seat utilizing a conventional automobile safety belt. U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,339, which issued to R. Heath on Jan. 19, 1982, discloses a container for carrying an infant in a supine position, having an open top which is covered by a flexible cover of resilient perforate material, provided with seatbelt retention means such that it can be retained to the rear seat of a vehicle having seatbelts therein, and in the event of vehicle impact, an infant is supported over a large area of its body. U.S. Pat. No. 4,441,221, which issued to K. Enste et al on Apr. 10, 1984, discloses a gymnastic and support wedge for babies and toddlers, especially for multiple and severly handicapped children of kindergarten and school age, including a wedge-like base plate member, a pair of lateral trough wedge members mounted on the base plate member and a plurality of differently shaped individual members mountable between the trough wedge members in any desired position. All of these parts are detachably connected with each other. In one configuration, this device may be utilized as a car restraint seat. U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,188, which issued to H. Tsuge et al on Sept. 23, 1986, discloses a child restaining device for use on conventional vehicle seats which is provided with a reclining mechanism including a supporting member for supporting a child receiving vessel mounted rotatably in a step manner thereon through crank means. The device is configured for securement on a conventional vehicle seat through the use of conventional automobile safety belts.
While the above mentioned devices are suited for their intended usage, none of these devices provides a child restraint seat for use in vehicles which may be pivoted to an unobtrusive storage position. Further, all of the above child restraint seats are bulky as well as difficult and time consuming to transport. An additional feature of the present invention, not contemplated by the aforesaid devices, is the provision of a child restraint seat for use with conventional bench type vehicle seats which may also serve as a pivotal armrest. Inasmuch as the art is relatively crowded with respect to these various types of child restraint seats, it can be appreciated that there is a continuing need for and interest in improvements to such child restraint seats, and in this respect, the present invention addresses this need and interest.